Thursday, November 13, 2008

Californians Against Hate want the country to know who gave the $36 million! to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign that took away existing same-sex marriage rights in California. They have posted all major donors on their web site who gave $5000.00 and more, many much more! [Just imagine what better use $36 Million Dollars could be put to!]

They have gleaned public information from the California Secretary of State’s Office and added telephone numbers and web sites when available. There is also included commentary on some of the more interesting and controversial donors, such as the founder of Blackwater whose family happens to be long-time family friends and Wyoming neighbors of Dick & Lynn Cheney (parents to a lesbian daughter, Mary Cheney). Individuals and businesses gave a vast amount of money to take away citizens rights and equality under the law, and we want you to know who they are.

Knights of Columbus (Headquarters) gave: $250,000 on 2/4/08, $1,000,000 on 8/15/08 and $150,000 on 10/21/08

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Knights of Columbus (California) gave: $25,000 on 4/18/08

Headquartered in New Haven, CT, the Knights of Columbus has 1.7 million members and is required to provide life insurance to its members. Founded in 1882, it acts as the political arm of the Catholic Church. It has given millions of dollars to fight stem cell research initiatives and to fund constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriage across the United States. The Knights of Columbus is chartered as a fraternal benefit society, and is set up as a 501(c)8 corporation.

Fieldstead & Co. is a company owned by the heir of the Home Savings & Loan fortune, Howard "Howie" Ahmanson, Jr. Ahmanson is a major contributor to numerous far right religious political causes. His past association with R.J. Rushdoony’s controversial Christian Reconstructionist movement was an early influence on Ahmanson’s political viewpoint. Ahmanson has stated that his “goal is the total integration of biblical law into our lives.”

Referring to his close friend Rashdoony, Ahmanson is reported to have “never supported his mentor’s calls for the death penalty for homosexuals,” rather, as the Orange County Register reported many years later in 2004, “he stops just short of condemning the idea”, saying that he “no longer consider[s] [it] essential” to stone people who are deemed to have committed certain immoral acts. Ahmanson and his wife Roberta completed a four part interview with the Orange County Register in 2004 in an attempt to clarify the rumors that swirled around them. Ahmanson has connections with three other major donors on this list: Roland Hinz, Robert Hurtt and Edward Atsinger III, who have pooled their money to support like-minded candidates and causes through the Capitol Commonwealth Group (CCG) and Allied Business PAC. They spent more than $3,600,000 back in the 1992 election cycle alone.[1]

John Templeton, Chairman and President of the John Templeton Foundation, gave: $450,000 on 8/19 (to NOM), $450,000 on 8/19 (to Protect Marriage), $100,000 on 10/8/08 and $100,000 on 10/29/08.

John Templeton, Jr. is the son of the late John Marks Templeton. John, Sr. was born in Winchester, Tennessee in 1912, and made his fortune through the Templeton Funds that he started and later sold in 1992 to Franklin Group for $440 million. John, Jr. is now the President of the John Templeton Foundation which has nearly $1.5 billion in assets, and gave away $70 million in grants in 2007. The Foundation funds research into “life’s biggest questions,” including science, religion, ultimate reality and wisdom.

John Templeton, Jr. founded and is Chairman of 'Let Freedom Ring, Inc. ' (www.letfreedomringusa.com), a far right think-tank that he set up in 2004 with a $1 million donation. [14] He is a member of the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which made news when they were forced to leave their Philadelphia headquarters due to a conflict between Philadelphia’s non-discrimination policy, and that of the Boy Scouts, which allows discrimination of gays. Legal proceedings continue on the case. [12] [13]

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) gave: $225,000 on 1/22/08, $38,132.50 on 2/1/08, $47,402.25 on 2/18/08, $172,500 on 2/21/08, $108,000 on 2/22/08, $105,000 on 3/7/08, $50,000 on 4/14/08, $25,000 on 4/18/08, $25,000 on 4/18/08, $100,100 on 4/24/08, $25,000 on 4/25/08, $20,000 on 7/30/08 and $100,000 on 10/21/08.

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) is headed by syndicated columnist Maggie Gallagher, President and Brian Brown, Executive Director. Gallagher has worked for several other organizations before founding NOM. She is best known for being in the center of a (George W. ) Bush Administration scandal. She had a $21,500 contract with the Health and Human Services Department in 2002 to help promote the administration’s $300 million “healthy marriage” initiative, but did not disclose her contract and was using her column to promote the program. Gallagher attempted to withhold this information until she finally admitted the conflict four years later. [2]

Due to its sizeable early financial support of ProtectMarriage.com, NOM is chiefly responsible for the qualification of Proposition 8. Their funds made it possible to hire the signature gathering firm of Bader and Associates. Bader then was able to hire hundreds of professional petition circulators to collect the necessary signatures to qualify Proposition 8 for the November ballot. The Protect Marriage Campaign spent $1,227,263 with the Bader organization alone between January and June of 2008.

The Caster Family has given: Terry Caster–$100,000 on 1/5/08, $62,500 on 2/5/08 and $10,000 on 3/27/08; Barbara Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Brian Caster–$10,000 on 1/28/08, $9,100 on 4/10/08 and $10,000 on 7/8/08; Candice Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Cha Cha Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Christina Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Craig Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Gary Davidson–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Justin Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Kenneth Kremensky–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Mechele Kremensky–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Nick Caster–$9,100 on 4/10/08; Caster Family Trust–$400,000 on 10/30/08

The Caster Family owns A-1 Self Storage, with 40 locations throughout California. Terry Caster is quoted in the San Diego Union Tribune as saying “without solid marriage you are going to have a sick society.” Son Craig Caster is the Founder/Pastor of Family Discipleship Ministries in San Diego. The Caster family has donated more to Proposition 8 than any other family in San Diego.

Robert Hurtt, President of Container Supply, gave: $25,000 on 4/18/08, $25,000 on 7/22/08 (from Container Supply), $250,000 on 9/5/08 and $250,000 on 10/17/08.

Former California State Senator Rob Hurtt owns Container Supply Company in Garden Grove. Hurtt had a quick rise to power when he spent $300,000 of his own money to win an Orange County State Senate seat in 1994. Hurt went on to overthrow the Republican leader Ken Maddy in 1995, and become the Minority leader. He was defeated 3 years later in 1998 by Democrat Joe Dunn.

$539,643.66*Focus on the Family gave: $50,000 on 12/4/07, $22,259.46 on 1/22/08, $10,834 on 1/28/08, $50,000 on 4/7/08, $250,000 on 6/13/08, $20,000 on 7/24/08, $9,152.63 on 7/29/08, $1,669.37 on 8/6/08, $21,402 on 9/4/08, $4,306.83 on 9/4/08, $1,739.37 on 9/15/08 and $100,000 on 10/28/08.

Founded in 1977 by Dr. James Dobson, Focus on the Family is the most powerful evangelical ministry in the country. Focus on the Family is located in Colorado Springs, CO and is now run day-to-day by President & CEO, Jim Daly, but James Dobson is still the face and voice of Focus on the Family. Their 2005 budget was $129 million and they have 1,300 employees. They advocate creationism and have called same-sex marriage “the most radical human experiment.”

One of James Dobson’s more famous quotes: "Communities do not let prostitutes, pedophiles, voyeurs, adulterers, and those who sexually prefer animals to publicly celebrate their lifestyles, so why should homosexuals get such privileges?" Dobson receives lucrative royalties from the many books that he writes.

*Contributions to this organization also appear separately on this report.

The American Family Association (AFA) of Tupelo, Mississippi was founded in 1977 by Donald E. Wildmon. He serves as Chairman and his son Tim is President. According to its web site, “AFA exists to motivate and equip citizens to change the culture to reflect Biblical truth and traditional values.” They are established as a 501(c)(3) Corporation and according to their IRS Form 990 for 2007, brought in $22.5 million. AFA owns over 180 American Family Radio stations in 28 states across the country. [3] AFA has led several national boycotts against companies such as Walt Disney (1996–2005) www.afa.net/disney Ford (2005) www.boycottford.com and just launched a boycott against McDonalds Corporation www.boycottmcdonalds.com all due to their support of fairness and equality for gays and lesbians. AFA is currently targeting the Hallmark Card Company because it began selling a same-sex wedding cards.

Elsa Prince of Holland, Michigan is a board member of James Dobson’s Focus on the Family and their lobbying operation, the Family Research Council (FRC). Her late husband, Edgar, founded Prince Automotive and invented the lighted sun visor mirror which made them billionaires. Prince Automotive was later bought out by Johnson Controls. Edgar Prince was instrumental in creating the FRC and upon his death, Elsa Prince provided the money to build their new headquarters in Washington D.C. [8] At Edgar’s funeral, he was eulogized by James Dobson and Gary Bauer.

Prince’s son Erik serves as Vice President of the Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation, but is best-known as co-founder and CEO of Blackwater Worldwide www.blackwaterusa.com the highly controversial private security company with federal contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan worth a reported $500 million/year. The Princes have a sprawling ranch in Cody, Wyoming not far from Vice President Dick Cheney’s principal residence in Jackson, WY. Over the years, Blackwater has been represented by high-profile lawyer Ken Starr. [9]

The Edgar & Elsa Prince Foundation is a major donor to the Alliance Defense Fund, whose other major donors include Prince’s daughter and son-in-law, Richard and Betsy DeVos (Richard is the son of the Co-founder of Amway) and the Bolthouse Foundation, whose founder, William Bolthouse, also appears on this list. [10]

Concerned Women for America was founded in 1979 by Christian Beverly LaHaye, wife of Christian Coalition co-founder Timothy LaHaye. The organization is a conservative Christian political action group that focuses on six “core issues”, which they view as Biblically-based. LaHaye was quoted in a 1987 interview with Ms. Magazine, “Yes, religion and politics do mix. America is a nation based on biblical principles. Christian values dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not beling in office.” [21]

$160,000The Vineyard Group gave: $25,000 on 6/23/08, $35,000 on 7/15/08 and $100,000 on 10/29/08.

The Vineyard Group is part of Cardon Hiatt Bowden, a real estate and investment company based in Mesa, AZ. Principals include Elijah and Craig Cardon, Broc Hiatt and Brent Bowden, many of whom were big financial backers of Mitt Romney for President. Broc Hiatt is a Director of the New York based Institute for American Values, where NOM founder Maggie Gallagher is an Affiliate Scholar.

Among Doug Manchester’s many holdings are The Manchester Grand Hyatt and the 1 year old Grand del Mar Hotel, both in San Diego. His $125,000 early contribution to qualify Proposition 8 is now possibly the most famous political contribution in America. When it became public on March, 15th there were cries for a boycott of his hotels. Californians Against Hate along with Unite Here, Local 30 and many other gay and lesbian leaders officially called for a boycott of Doug Manchester’s hotels on July 18, 2008. www.boycottmanchesterhotels.com. The boycott has been highly successful, resulting in several conventions and meetings being cancelled and moved to competing locations.

William Bolthouse, Jr. and his wife created the Bolthouse Foundation "to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by supporting charitable and religious organizations whose ministry, goals, and operating principles are consistent with evangelical Christianity as described in The Bolthouse Foundation Statement of Faith. [17] He was made wealthy through his family business, Bolthouse Farms, the 2nd largest producer of carrots in the world. He helped expand the business into beverages and salad dressings, and in 2005 sold 72% of the business to Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm. 28% of Bolthouse Farms is now owned by Bolthouse's daughter and son-in-law, Andre Radandt, who is the company's Chairman. Bolthouse Farms recently took significant steps to demonstrate that it is committed to diversity, including those in the LGBT community. They recently extended medical benefits to same sex partners of employees, and have given generously to several national and California LGBT organizations.

Generations Health Care owns and operates nursing homes and long term health care facilities. Samuelian, a Mormon Bishop in Laguna Beach, CA, has also been involved in two court cases, one in which he was accused of fraudulently taking funds from Covenant Care, a home nursing company, and using them to build his Laguna Beach home. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount in January 1999. [20] His political donations include support of Mitt Romney for President in 2007.

Dale Brown is President of Petroleum Strategies; a Texas based Qualified Intermediary for tax-deferred, like-kind exchanges. Brown is also on the Board of Legacy Reserves LP, a publicly traded oil company (NASDAQ: LGCY) where his son Cory is the CEO and Chairman of the Board. Dale Brown is a major contributor to the Campaign for Working Families, an organization headed by far right leader Gary Bauer.

Roger Orton, Sacramento, CA

$50,000

Roger Orton of Sacramento gave: $50,000 on 8/18/08

Roger Orton is generally unknown politically. His only other political contributions were $450 to Tom McClintock for CA Lt. Governor and $200 to Sacramento area Congressman John Doolittle (R-Roseville).

The Law Offices on Charles S. LiMandri gave: $10,000 on 1/28/08 and $27,000 on 4/28/08

Charles S. LiMandri is a self-described “car accident attorney” according to his web site www.limandrilaw.com. Among his many cases, Mr. LiMandri sued the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, AZ and on March 15, 2005 he won. His client was awarded $2,376,189 in damages. [6] LiMandri, who lives and works in Rancho Santa Fe, recently hosted a Yes on 8 fund-raiser at his estate. He is the general counsel to the Yes on 8 campaign, and was paid $10,000 through the campaign according the California Recipient Committee Campaign Statement (State Form 460) dated 4/1/08 – 6/30/08.

Adamo Construction Management is a very large commercial/industrial design, construction and general contractor firm located in San Diego. The current President/CEO is Michael Gaetke, and the company was founded by James Adamo, Jr. Their clients have included Qualcomm, Honeywell, ITT Industries, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, as well as several municipalities, religious organizations, and the Department of Defense.

Lee A. Whatcott, Rancho Santa Margarita, CA

$34,999

Lee Whatcott gave: $9,999 on 8/25/08 and $25,000 on 9/4/08

Wilma Thomas, Dublin, CA

$32,500 on 9/10/08

Stephanie S. Sorensen, Laguna Niguel, CA

$30,000 on 9/15/08

Michael Minson, Modesto, CAMinson Commercial Services, Real Estate

$30,000

Michael Minson gave: $5,000 on 8/28/08, $15,000 on 9/6/08 and $10,000 on 9/6/08

David S. Christensen, an executive with Nearon Enterprises, has been with the company since May, 1993. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Financial Planning from Brigham Young University, and serves as a trustee and is a member of the board of directors with Nearon.

Pastor Miles McPherson leads the San Diego Rock Church located near Pt. Loma. According to their website: “The vision of the Rock Church is to be a powerful evangelistic force that engages every segment of society as a motivated army of believers in Jesus Christ. We are wholeheartedly committed to using our gifts anywhere at any time to share the gospel while influencing and transforming our society.”

Robert Hoehn, President of Hoehn Motors in Carlsbad, CA gave: $25,000 on 2/8/08

Hoehn Motors has 6 large car dealerships located along the 5 freeway in Northern San Diego County: Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Audi, Infiniti, Acura and Honda. Mr. Hoehn was one of the earlier backers of Proposition 8, and has had a demonstration in front of his dealerships that was organized by the North County LGBT Coalition. www.northcountylgbtcoalitionforce.org

Mark Hobbins founded www.FamilyIQ.com in 1997. They offer e-learning courses for a variety of life improvement issues, including improving relationships with family, friends, partners/spouses and self-improvement.

Kenneth Eldred is CEO of Living Stones Foundation. According to their website: The Living Stones Foundation Charitable Trust is said to exist to serve the Lord Jesus Christ by providing financial and strategic resources to projects that lead to self-sustaining Kingdom-building ministries, where support will leverage the success of the whole body of Christ. Areas of interest include Kingdom Business, Family Values, and regional, national, and global Transformation initiatives.

John D. Tanner, is owner of Tanner Industries and Western Single Ply in California, Nevada and Arizona. Tanner graduated from Brigham Young University, and served within the LDS Church as manager of physical facilities and new construction within the Church’s welfare systems.

Dewitt Paul founded Cotton Buds in 1991, with the technology and equipment to manufacture cotton swabs. He has since partnered with Proctor & Gamble on various bath tissues, paper towels and detergents. Dewitt’s father was en Elder and addressed the student body at Brigham Young University on April 10, 1963.

T.B. Penick & Sons is a fourth generation construction company currently run by brothers Marc and Tim Penick that specializes in Structural Concrete, General Construction and Innovative Concrete Systems. They have completed projects all around the world.

Douglas McDermott is the President and Owner of McDermott Financial and Insurance. He is also part owner/CFO of a company called At Home Personal Care, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Williamson General Contracting, La Mirada, CA

$15,000 on 9/12/08

Jay Bradford, Placentia, CAMajesty Realty, CFO

$15,000 on 8/8/08

Jay Bradford is CFO/Executive VP/member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee for Majestic Realty, and is also affiliated with Majestic Realty Retail, Commerce Construction Co, LP, CCC Rental LP, Majestic Management Company and Majestic Realty Foundation. Prior to this, he was with Ernst & Young for 18 years. Bradford graduated from Brigham Young University/B.S in Accounting, and currently serves on the National Advisory Council for the Marriott School of Management.

Salem Communications is a leading US radio broadcaster, Internet content provider and magazine and book publisher targeting audiences interested in Christian and family-themed content and conservative values. They own and operate nearly 100 radio stations across the country.

Allyson Weinberg, Santa Rosa Valley, CA

$12,500Allyson Weinberg gave: $12,500 on 4/4/08

Allyson Weinberg has been in the limelight before. Back in 2004, Weinberg and her husband Denny (a senior executive for WellPoint, the nation’s second largest insurer at the time), sued the United Way of Ventura County, stating they were lied to about the United Way policy that forbade donations to any organization that discriminated against others. Due to the court ruling that allowed the Boy Scouts to discriminate against gays and atheists, the United Way chose to no longer support them as their own guidelines prohibited such support based on discrimination. The Weinberg’s had agreed to head a nationwide campaign for United Way to find donors, as well as match donations, but when United Way chose to change its donation policies towards the Boy Scouts, the Weinberg’s, for a number of different reasons, decided to sue. [7]

Advanced Joining Technologies was created in 2000 as a subsidiary of Boeing, and later was purchased back by the original founders. They are responsible for Boeing’s world recognized development and production implementation with the friction stir welding process.

Treavor Hodson is an attorney with Palmer, Kazanjian, Wohl, Perkins in Folsom, CA. The firm specializes in all aspects of employment law litigation, including such areas of expertise as wrongful termination, unlawful discrimination and harassment and retaliation. Hodson also represents management in labor law cases before the National Labor Relations Board and similar state agencies including representation elections, unfair labor practice charges and hearings, collective bargaining negotiations, contract arbitrations and picketing and strikes.

Senator Dennis Hollingsworth proclaims on his website (www.dennishollingsworth.com) he is “the man the liberals fear most.” Hollingsworth serves the 36th district, which includes portions of San Diego and Riverside Counties. He was elected in November, 2002, and served as President of the Proposition 22 Legal Defense Fund.

Strongtower’s primary services include financing and investing, which span direct lending and bond offerings for churches and other faith-based organizations, as well as investment advisory and wealth management for individuals and institutions.

Lawrence Research is a full-service research firm specializing in public affairs issues and marketing. Owned by Gary Lawrence, the company offers a full line of research services, including telephone surveys, focus groups, video dial tests and specialty group research. Lawrence and former partner Dick Wirthlin got their start working for Ronald Reagan. He currently serves as the Area Grass Roots Coordinator of the Church of Latter Day Saints–Yes on 8 campaign yesonprop8.blogspot.com/2008/08/gary-lawrence-grass-roots-coordinator.html. Lawrence is also writing a book “How Americans View Mormonism; Seven Steps to Improve Our Image.” Check out his writings at: www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/080711war.html

George Elledge, an Engineer with Occidental Petroleum Corporation, gave: $5,000 on 7/24/08

Occidental Petroleum is an international oil and gas exploration and production company formerly headed by Dr. Armand Hammer, with operations in the US, Middle East, North Africa and Latin America regions.

David Walton, an attorney with the San Diego law firm of Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP focuses on class actions and private actions on behalf of defrauded investors, particularly in the area of accounting fraud. Walton has investigated and participated in the litigation of many large accounting scandals, including Enron, WorldCom, AOL Time Warner, Krispy Kreme, Informix, HealthSouth, Dynegy, Dollar General and numerous companies implicated in stock option backdating. They have 9 offices across the country. Walton earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University of Utah and law degree from the University of Southern California. [18]

Bart Bennett is a researcher/writer, and co-authored, “A Users Guide to the Technical Training Schoolhouse Method” for the United States Air Force. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decision making through objective research and analysis.

Daniel Faulk is a CPA focusing on income tax planning, research and compliance, strategic business planning, corporate and retirement plan audits, expatriate tax and tax equalization issues, and high level AMT and ISO individual tax planning. Faulk has been with the firm since 1989.

REFERENCESAll donor names, cities and donation amounts cited from the Secretary of State Web Site for the State of California: http://cal-access.ss.ca.gov/Campaign/Measures/Detail.aspx?id=1302602&session=2007

*Contributions to these organizations also appear separately on this report.

Disclaimer: This list is based on the data made publicly available by the California Secretary of State’s office and by Californians Against Hate, Inc. This site is not responsible for the accuracy or validity of the names, contribution amounts and descriptions on this Dishonor Roll. Please direct any inquiries or corrections to the California Secretary of State. Californians Against Hate, Inc. will periodically update their list based on additional data made available by the California Secretary of State. It is possible for multiple persons to share the same name.

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GOOGLE CENSORED THIS BLOG
3/17/07—3/20/07

Number of American Soldiers
killed in 5 year illegal war in Iraq:4000+Number of American Soldiers Wounded by the War:29,000+
Number of people killed in 9/11
attacks: 2,819Number of Iraqi citizens killed by US
in Iraq War: 70,000 - 160,000 Connections between
Iraq and 9/11: 0

Economic loss to New York in month following the attacks: $105 billion
Estimated cost of cleanup: $600 million
Total FEMA money spent on the emergency:$970 million
Cost of American Voter Stupidity: Priceless

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